Sachin's paradise

The last place West Indies would want to play their next, crucial Test would have been the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The Chepauk, as it's also called, has been a propitious ground for India over the years. India notched up their first-ever Test win here, against England in 1951-52, and have gone on to win more Tests at this venue than at any other - 10. Three of their six Test wins against West Indies at home have come here. The fact that the match will be played on a newly laid pitch makes it difficult to predict how the wicket will play from past trends. In 24 of the 25 Tests, the team winning the toss has opted to bat first. (The results are less skewed, with 10 of the 16 wins going to the side batting first.) This is partly because the Chennai pitch has mostly been a spinners' paradise, with a deteriorating pitch making things difficult for the side batting fourth. A notable exception, though, was India's classic win over West Indies in 1978-79, when the Chepauk curators produced what was arguably the fastest pitch in the subcontinent's history. The hero of that match, Kapil Dev, has taken more wickets at Chennai than any other bowler - 40 scalps in 11 Tests - but the next ten bowlers in the list are all spinners.

Those include Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Kumble has taken 23 wickets in his four Tests at this venue at a healthy average of 19, but it is Harbhajan who should be itching to bowl here - he got 15 wickets in the only Test he played here, the series-decider against Australia in 2001-02, and coming off his destructive spell in West Indies' second innings of the Mumbai Test, he will be pumped up for a repeat.

If there is one Indian who loves to play at Chennai, it is Sachin Tendulkar. He has an awesome record here, with 655 runs in five Tests at an average of 109. One of those five Tests, against New Zealand in 1995-96, was curtailed by rain and he managed only 52 not out, but in each of the other four, he made centuries, his 136 against Pakistan in 1998-99 in a losing cause and his 155 not out against Australia in 1997-98 being career highlights. He has more hundreds here than any other Indian, although both Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath played twice as many Tests at Chennai as Tendulkar.

All eyes will be on Rahul Dravid, though, as he approaches the last lap of what could be a record-equalling five Test centuries in a row. In three Tests at Chennai, Dravid has made 256 runs at 42.66. Although he has yet to make a three-figure knock here, he has passed 50 four times in his six innings, and given the form he's in, a maiden century at Chennai is eminently possible.

Among the West Indians, only their captain, Carl Hooper, has played here - in 1987-88. He made 10 runs in two innings and had match figures of 2 for 62, but he was a mere rookie then, not the master he has since become. Hooper averages a healthy 47 as captain - as opposed to his overall Test average of 36.5 - and will have to lead from the front if his inexperienced team is to have the slightest chance of keeping themselves alive in this series.